


Phantom Jake Syndrome

by cresselia



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 21:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1279297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresselia/pseuds/cresselia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After dinner with Teddy, Amy feels there's something missing between them. She can't quite place her finger on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phantom Jake Syndrome

Teddy is nice.

He dresses appropriately for dinner, pulls out her chair for her, and offers to pay the entire bill even though she got dessert. When he picks her up, his car is clean and doesn't smell like rotten cheese. They talk about work over dinner, trading stories and catching up the time since they've last been in contact. 

She remembers how much she enjoyed dating him the first time around, and maybe that's the problem. Sure, Amy likes spending time with him. He's pleasant and a good cop, and she has a tremendous amount of respect for him. (Plus he doesn't mind when she checks her phone at every ding because he completely understands that not answering her texts could potentially be the difference in someone living or dying.) But at the end of their second dinner when he leans over to kiss her, she finds herself turning her head so he misses and kisses her cheek instead.

When she closes the door to her apartment behind her, she thinks that maybe she's focusing too much on the past. Maybe she's just remembering how much she liked him before and it's raising her standard for him impossibly high. It's just rose colored memories that are the problem, not him. And she wants things to work out with him, which is why she's home alone and didn't invite him in to ruin things with sex.

She slips her heels off and pulls her phone out of her purse. There's an unread text from one of her brothers that she ignores to start a new conversation. She searches through the J's until she finds Jake's name with sunglasses emoji next to it that he added in one day when he abducted her phone while she was in Holt's office.

'My waiter tonight had a Rex Buckingham accent. Thought you might like to know.'

Once the text is sent she feels nervous in a strange way. She can't help but wonder what Jake's doing at that moment, and she has visions of him in a bar hitting on a tall blonde with a low cut shirt. For some reason it leaves a lump in her throat that she doesn't want to analyze, so she decides to cut the problem off at the source and just shut her phone off for the night.

Gina once made fun of her for using an alarm clock separate from her phone, but who's laughing now?

–

When Amy gets into work on Monday, Rosa is leaning against Jake's desk, discussing a case they're working on together. As she takes her seat, Rosa nods at her in greeting.

“Hey, how was dinner with Teddy?”

She thinks she might have seen Jake tense in his seat but chalks it up to an overactive imagination.

“It was nice,” she replies, trying her best to force a natural smile. Rosa raises an eyebrow but doesn't press that part further as she boots up her computer.

“You guys gonna go out again?”

Now she knows Jake is reacting because she can see him deliberately trying to look anywhere but at her, waiting for her answer. For some reason it makes her knees feel weak, and Amy's immensely glad that she's already sitting down.

“Maybe, if he calls again. He's a really great guy, and we had a good time”

“Clearly it wasn't that good of a time if going out with him again is only a maybe,” Gina says, slinking up behind her. “Might I suggest forgoing underwear during the next date. It's a fun way to spice things up.”

Amy opens her mouth to protest, but Jake beats her to it. “Come on, Gina. Play nice. Besides, we all know that Santiago was born in granny panties.”

She can feel her face flame up, and she throws a pen at him in retaliation. It hits him in the shoulder, but he doesn't even seem to care as he high-fives himself on congratulations. 

“Whatever Jake, at least I have someone in my life.”

“Sounds boring. One night stands are where it's at, Santiago.”

“It doesn't count if it's your hand and not another human,” she replies primly as Rosa muffles a snicker and leaves to return to her desk. The smile falls immediately off of Jake's face, and Amy wears her grin with triumph.

–

She's over at Terry's desk when her cell phone rings, and Jake is reaching for it before she can sprint back over to answer it.

“Hello, this is Amy 'Virgin-until-she-graduated-the-police-academy' Santiago's phone. Jake Peralta speaking.” He wheels away in his chair as she reaches to swipe the phone away from him. When she scowls at him, he just sticks his tongue out at her.

Then he hears the voice on the other line and the expression on his face immediately falls flat.

“Jake Peralta? Oh! You're Amy's partner, right? It's Teddy.”

“Yeah. Amy's partner. She's currently making out with a perp in holding, can I take a message?”

Amy's mouth falls open. “Jake!” 

He rolls his eyes and tosses her the phone, and she catches it with ease. “I'm sorry about him; he never matured past the age of thirteen.”

“Don't worry about it. I was just wondering if you wanted to catch a movie tonight?”

She stops in her tracks, completely unsure of what she actually wants. On one hand, she absolutely likes Teddy, but on the other it still doesn't feel quite there for her. And it would be their third date, which she thinks counts as leading him on if she's not actually interested. 

Instead, she panics.

“Actually, I have to work late tonight. Peralta messed up some paperwork for our case, and we have to redo it.”

“We are--” She cuts him off, slapping her hand over his mouth.

“Oh, no problem. Well, give me a call later, okay?”

“Yeah, absolutely.”

She hangs up the phone and removes her hand from Jake's mouth. He's staring at her expectantly.

“Amy Santiago, did you just use me to get out of a date?”

“Shut up.”

“This feels like such an abuse of our burgeoning friendship. I don't know if I can trust you anymore.”

She turns to look at him, biting on the inside of her cheek. “Fine. I like Teddy, but I don't know if I...like him. And I'm worried about leading him on if I keep agreeing to go out with him.”

“Well, that's the definition of leading someone on, so.”

“I know, but I just haven't sorted out my feelings yet.”

Jake shrugs and sits down at his desk. “Well, you should.”

It occurs to her that he's lecturing her, but it feels too weird to point out to him. Instead she takes her seat across from him. “Hey, Jake?”

He looks up at her and raises his eyebrow.

“Do you actually want to do something after work? Go out for a drink maybe.”

He looks taken back by her offer, swallowing a lump in the back of his throat. There's a part of her that likes making him this nervous, and she knows that it can't be a good sign. Now she short of hopes he says no.

“Yeah, alright. I guess I can free up some time in my very busy schedule for you.”

Shit.

Amy nods and looks back at her computer screen. “Sounds good.”

–

She's on her second drink when she gets the phone call. Jake is leaning against her shoulder to shoulder, and she's hesitant to say it, but she's actually having a really good time.

There's a point in the night when Jake plays her darts, and he totally destroys her but isn't a jerk about it. She's so impressed by it that she offers to pick up the tab.

(The benefits of not being in crushing debt, she teases.)

Then her phone goes off and the name on the screen makes her laughter stop abruptly. Jake looks over her shoulder and seems to sober up just as quickly as she does. Neither of them are laughing anymore.

Amy runs out of the bar quickly to get away from the noise and answers the call.

“... Hey Teddy!”

“Amy, I'm at your precinct. I was coming by to bring you dinner, but everyone said you left hours ago.”

She can feel her stomach drop with guilt. Of course he brought her dinner. Of course he was thoughtful and sweet and perfect boyfriend material. Of course she found a way to mess it up.

And of course she doesn't know what to say.

“Why did you lie to me? If you didn't want to go out tonight, you could've just said so.”

She still feels at a loss for words. She doesn't know how to say that she likes him but doesn't feel enough to continue seeing him because she wishes it wasn't true. And it just feels...so fake to her.

She can see Jake sitting at the bar still through the window and feels a weird stirring in her chest. He's talking to a girl who'd adopted Amy's previously abandoned chair. She only snaps back to attention when Teddy says her name again.

“I don't think this is working out,” she blurts out quickly. The other line goes quiet for a moment.

“Alright, I understand.” And it really sounds like he does. “See you around?”

Amy nods vigorously before realizing he can't see her. “Yeah, of course. Still friends?”

“Absolutely.” She can practically see his goodnatured smile when she closes her eyes. “Have a good rest of your night, Amy.”

“Yeah, you too,” she whispers before pulling her phone away and hanging up. 

She's almost afraid to turn back around and walk back into the bar knowing that she'll probably just become a third wheel while Jake tries to get laid. It's weird, she thinks, because it's never bothered her before just thinking he's a tool when he's flirted with girls around her, but it feels different to her now. 

Something about it makes her feel a little uncomfortable and self conscious. Part of her just wants to start walking until she finds a spot to hail a cab, but that feels cowardly, and Amy Santiago is not a coward.

Not that she'd have anything to be scared of anyway because that would imply she has some kind of issue with Jake hooking up with someone, and she does. Doesn't. She doesn't have a problem with that.

She forces herself to turn around, but she can't see Jake through the window anymore. It makes her feel worse when she realizes he must have figured she took off to see Teddy, and he's probably making out with that girl somewhere in the back of the bar. She can vaguely imagine it in her head, the girl's hands combing through his hair, and his hands firmly on her waist, and okay maybe she does kind of have a problem with it.

“Amy?”

She snaps back to attention and sees Jake standing in the doorway to the bar, tilting his head at her. The girl he was talking to is nowhere in sight.

“... Hey!”

Amy fidgets in her spot, unsure of what to do with her hands until she shoves them in the pockets of her jacket. Jake only looks at her like she's grown three heads.

“I kind of thought you took off,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

He looks so vulnerable and cute it breaks her heart a little. 

“No, I just... I just talked to Teddy. He showed up at the precinct with dinner for me.”

She can see his jaw clench a little before he forces himself to act normal. Everything feels like it's acting in slow motion between them, she thinks. Or maybe she's just paying a strange amount of detail to his every movement. It could be either, really.

“Sounds like a real keeper. You guys set a date yet?” he asks, standing up straight and avoiding her gaze.

“Jake...”

“No, really. He's good for you. You're both police nerds and went to camp-whatever together and he's normal and has a stable job. So, you know, good for you.”

He just sounds so hostile it cures her of whatever affection she'd been feeling for him. His words immediately make her feel defensive.

“What's your problem?”

“Nothing! I'm just congratulating you on finally finding someone!”

“No, you're being a dick.”

He throws his hands in the air. “Yeah, whatever you say, Santiago. I'm just glad you have Teddy. You know, not many men would stick with you after you lie to them. You probably should've just left when he called. You don't need to stick around for my sake.”

He turns to walk away, but Amy reaches over and grabs his arm to spin him back around with a scowl. He seems almost surprised by the contact. 

“Why are you being like this?”

“Being like what?”

“So...mean.”

It doesn't occur to her that he's had more drinks tonight than her and maybe he's just being extra candid. Instead, she just finds herself confused at his response.

“I paid for our drinks.”

“... What?”

“At the bar. I paid for our drinks. I was going to anyway even though you already said you would.”

“Why?”

He looks uncomfortable, but she knows this conversation has gone too far for him to back out now. 

“Because. I wanted to do something nice to impress you.”

She feels as uncomfortable as he looks now, crossing her arms against her chest and shifting her weight from foot to foot. She knows what question she needs to ask next, but she's not stupid or oblivious. She can tell where this conversation is headed, and she's not sure why it never occurred to her before. 

“Why would you want to impress me?”

“That's not really the kind of answer I should be giving to a girl with a boyfriend.”

Her breath catches in her throat.

“Just say it.”

“No--”

“I ended things with Teddy. Just say it, Peralta.”

He gives her a strange look that she can't quite decipher. He's looking at her with a strange mixture of confusion and intensity, and she very much wants to kiss him. Which is new.

“Alright. I want you to like me as much as I like you.”

There it is.

She can feel her chest swell, and her entire body feels a little tingly after his omission. But in a good way. He's still staring at her with that look, waiting for her to say something back, but she almost wants to draw it out so he'll keep looking at her that way.

But she's not Gina-levels of cruel.

“When I first went out with Teddy last year, it was really great. We clicked, and it was great finding someone who understood what it was like to date while also being a detective. I thought he had long-term boyfriend potential.”

She stops speaking for a moment to lick her lips, and she can feel the intensity of Jake's gaze on her, waiting for her to continue.

“It wasn't like that this time. The first date was nice, but it was kind of...off too. I kept waiting for someone to pop out and ruin it or something. But not in a bad way – it was kind of like I was anticipating it. And then we went out for dinner, and I felt bored. He didn't tease me or crack inappropriate jokes. I couldn't really place my finger on it, but when I got home, I remember texting you.”

“Amy...”

She smiles shyly at him and steps forward. His expression has softened to match her own half-flustered, half-embarrassed one.

She hugs herself and looks away with an almost inaudible laugh. “It's really cold.”

“Here--”

Without a second thought, he takes off his jacket and drapes it over her. He immediately looks freezing, and she has to suppress the urge to laugh. Instead, she leans up and presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“You're cute when you're chivalrous.”

That's all it seems to take, and he's leaning down to pull her into a kiss. She reacts immediately to him, pressing her body up against his and wrapping her arms around his neck. One of his hands snakes around to rest his palm on the small of her back, the other planted firmly on her hip. Her hands reach for his hair, tangling in it until she pulls away for air.

He's looking at her like he's never seen her before in his life, and it makes her knees weak.

Amy pulls him back into another kiss, this one a little hungrier and less romantic than the last. His hand on her hip pulls her closer to him and skims the tiniest bit of skin beneath her shirt, and she knows where this will go if she lets it.

She only pulls away the slightest bit to mumble against his lips, “Want to get out of here?”

Jake just grins at her and takes a step back, holding out his hand. “Thought you'd never ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> a tumblr prompt! i'm alright with the way this turned out, i think. i'm still reeling over tuesday's episode, though, to be honest. i might never recover.


End file.
